Mea Culpa: Films We Wished We’d Covered

At TIME we try to cover the most significant movie releases every week, but even with two critics working fulltime, we don’t always get to everything. Before 2012 draws to a close, here is a list of 10 compelling films, features and documentaries that we missed when they opened—from the tale of a backpacking couple derailed by a single misstep to the true story of a coalition that declared war on AIDS in the 1980s. Consider this a cheat sheet for the video store or your Netflix queue.

If You never have seen "Anne Of Green Gables" then you must do it. Go across the longest bridge of this world (Confederation Bridge) to Prince Edward Island and meet "Anne with an E" in Avonlea. I love Lucy Maud Montgomery so much. She is my compass. I will never forget Megan Fellows. Crigs

I've seen three of these; while Take This Waltz, for all its evident merits, didn't work for me (as distinct from not being very good, a distinction almost every critic needs to learn to make), I loved Monsieur Lazhar unconditionally and Oslo, August 31st nearly so.

But I wouldn't bother with this comment except to point out that Oslo, August 31st actually takes place largely on August 30th. The movie does end on the morning of the 31st, though. The title is thus in fact a covert* statement that the movie is ultimately about its ending, not about what precedes it. That's fairly significant, and it's just one facet of its excellence.

*Covert enough for Mary Pols to have missed it, at least -- I'm frankly not sure whether that says much.